Not the Only One
by Magemaster
Summary: What would have happened if instead of running to LA at the end of season 2, Buffy had gone to Colorado Springs? What's waiting for her there? A mom who would do anything for her daughter, despite her faults... Xover with SG1
1. Chapter 1

Not the Only One

I DO NOT OWN BtVS OR SG-1!

* * *

"If you walk out that door, you can't come back." Buffy turned back to look at the woman she had called mom for most of her life. It hurt deeper then anyone knew when Joyce said that to her. The woman didn't seem to care that what her daughter was about to go do was easily the hardest thing she had done so far in her life.

Buffy said nothing, only turned around and left. With help from Spike, she got to the Manor where Angelus was waiting for her. They fought and she killed him, Angel, not the demonic monster that had nearly caused the world to end, but the vampire she had originally fallen in love with. She realized, in that brief second before she stabbed him, that Xander had known what Willow was going to do and he hadn't told her. Buffy collapse, tears running down her face as she stared at the spot where Angel had been. It was over now…all over.

* * *

Buffy silently moved through what used to be her room. She packed some clothing, just the necessities as if she were going camping. She would have to travel light. The dumb-blonde act had been dropped and the intelligence that very few people knew existed shown through. Swinging the duffle bag onto her bed, Buffy picked up the bag that held her weapons, making sure that the things inside wouldn't make any noise as she moved. She placed this next to the other duffle on her bed.

The next thing she did was pick up the pair of scissors that lay in her desk drawer. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she began to cut her hair to the top of her ears, making it an almost exact copy of the style that her Mom preferred. Joyce had never let her do it, always saying that Buffy should keep it long. Buffy had been tempted, when Merric had first proven to her that she was indeed a Slayer, to just cut her hair like this. She changed her mind when Joyce and Hank had locked her up for trying to tell them what they didn't want to accept. Lucky for her, the doctors had to call her actual mom. Samantha Carter hadn't wasted anytime getting her daughter out of the psychiatric ward. Sam had believed her, making the comment that it really wasn't that hard to believe. Buffy had even showed her, Sam of course being the worried mom. Merric might have thought that he had taught Buffy what she knew of the fighting arts, but Sam had been teaching her long before Merric even knew she existed.

That was where she was going now. Sam (only in privet was Buffy allowed to call the older woman mom) had told her that if she ever needed a place to stay, her door was always open. It was rare Buffy ever got to see Sam, since Joyce rarely spoke to the woman. Buffy was under the impression that Joyce hated Sam, who was her cousin in some way or another. It wasn't important anyway, since as far as Buffy was concerned, she was never coming back here. Hellmouth be damned, let the new Slayer take care of it because Buffy simply did not care anymore.

* * *

Samantha Carter, more commonly known as Sam, sat tiredly in her lab. Janet had just finished giving them the okay to leave after their last off-world mission. General Hammond had given SG-1 two weeks leave, and she was the only one without any plans. Jack (and she half wished that she had said yes this time) was spending most of it at his cabin in Minnesota. Daniel was taking Teal'c around the town to give their Jaffa friend more Earth culture experience. All of her friends had offered her an invitation to go along with them, but she didn't want to be a third wheel with Daniel and Teal'c and she didn't trust herself to be alone with Jack outside of Colorado Springs because she knew what they would do once the thought of regulations and duty were thousands of miles away.

She sighed again, looking at the various projects sitting on her desk. She knew that technically she didn't have to work on them; she could go out and do anything that she wanted. Looking past one of the various pieces that she really didn't recall what it was for, she spotted the last picture she and her daughter had taken. They were in a park in L.A., just before Buffy moved with Joyce to some obscure little town in California. Sam knew that if her job had allowed it, she would have retaken custody of Buffy at that exact moment. She still couldn't believe that Joyce and her cheating husband thought it necessary to institute Buffy.

Maybe it was traveling to different planets and meeting people from them that had opened up her mind the necessary amount, but she hadn't thought that vampires being real were such a stretch of the imagination. Not to mention demons and magic and everything else that Buffy had told her about. Sam grinned; she now knew what she wanted to do with her two weeks off. Getting up, she headed towards General Hammond's office.

* * *

Buffy looked at the scrap of paper in her hand to the house in front of her. The address was right, but it didn't look like her mom was home. This wasn't a problem, since Buffy knew exactly where Sam hid her spare house key. She let herself inside, heading straight to the kitchen at the urgings of her stomach. Not trusting herself to actually cook something, she looked around for something that she didn't have to cook. Finding stuff for sandwiches, Buffy made herself a plate full of them. Heading into the living room with her food and a can of soda, she looked around. There were few pictures of her, but Buffy already knew that the most important ones where in a scrap book that she and Sam added to every time they saw each other. There were however, pictures of Grandpa Jacob and Uncle Mark (who didn't like Buffy, so had nothing to do with her), and what must have been her mom's teammates. There was one man with brown hair going silver that in almost every picture Sam was standing close to. In a few, her mom's face held a look of longing when looking at the man. Buffy surmised that the man must be one Colonel Jack O'Neil.

Eating slowly, Buffy's mind began to throw doubts at her. What if Sam had only been offering to be nice? What if Buffy coming here would only lead the demons to her and therefore Sam? Buffy quickly squashed these thoughts, or tried to anyway. Instead, she tried not to think period. It didn't work very well, but she couldn't say she didn't try. Soon however, the events of the past few days caught up with her and, Slayer stamina or no, Buffy succumbed to her body's need for sleep.

* * *

Sam was enthusiastic. General Hammond had agreed to give her another two weeks of leave from her accumulated leave time that she had yet to actually use. She packed up a few items from her rooms at the base, wondering if Sunnydale had any decent camp ground near by. She loved to take Buffy camping, and, as Buffy had told her, it was only fun with Sam along. Joyce hated camping and Hank never really had time for Buffy unless he actually had to. Sam didn't like him and if it hadn't been for the fact that she had only been barely nineteen when Buffy was born, she never would have given the girl up, at least not to them.

Walking with her head down, running through a list of hers and Buffy's favorite activities, she didn't see her CO coming around the corner. She ran into him, bouncing back and barely catching herself.

"Whoa there Carter, what's the rush?" Jack looked at the small duffle his 2iC had hanging from her shoulder, wondering just where she was going. A very large part of his mind hoped that where ever it was it didn't include another guy. He very well knew the reason that Sam constantly told him no whenever he asked her to come with him, alone, to his cabin. He didn't exactly trust himself when around her alone then she trusted herself around him alone.

"Oh, hey Sir," Sam quickly readjusted the strap of her duffle, "what are you doing here? I thought you had left already?"

Jack shrugged, "I was about to when Hammond called me into his office. Where are you going for a month?" In all four years that he had known her, Sam had never asked for time off, the woman was nearly obsessed with her work.

Sam shrugged, "I'm going to go and visit someone in California that I haven't seen since she moved about two years ago." Sam was tempted to invite him along. After all, what could she do with him with Buffy around? Joyce was bothersome, but Sam wasn't worried about her. Buffy was the only one that mattered.

"Oh? Sounds interesting, hope you have fun," Jack felt a bit out of place now, after all, he had no right to say that Carter couldn't go. Besides, she looked like she could use the time off. Already her eyes were brighter then they had been for the past few months.

"Thank you Sir, I hope you have fun as well." Sam went past him and headed towards the elevator. Jack turned around and punched the button before Sam could. At her look, he only shrugged, stepping into the elevator with her. Sam grinned, enjoying the stolen minutes alone with her CO. Maybe someday…

* * *

Sam stretched as she exited her car, enjoying the warmth emitted by the setting sun. She knew that she would be taking her motorcycle to Sunnydale, her promise to Buffy to teach her how to drive it still fresh in her memory. Buffy was seventeen going on eighteen now, more then ready to learn. Joyce complained that Buffy couldn't even get a normal driver's license, but Sam knew the reason for that and figured that a motorcycle would suite Buffy's Slayer instincts better anyway. Besides, Sam thought Buffy drove quite well when Joyce wasn't in the car and there was no pressure on her.

Placing those thoughts out of her mind for now, Sam opened the door to her home. Upon entering, she noticed that there were two bags on the floor that hadn't been there two days ago when she had last been here. They looked vaguely familiar, but Sam couldn't place them. Walking carefully around her home, she looked in first the kitchen and then the living room. Spotting the small blonde curled up on the couch, Sam frowned. What on Earth was Buffy doing here? At least now the bags made sense.

Buffy whimpered in her sleep, curling tighter around herself. Sam approached her daughter slowly, not wanting to move to fast and cause Buffy to be startled. She had seen that happen once and it hadn't been pretty. Hank had had a nice bruise through, so it hadn't been all bad. Taking a closer look, she realized that Buffy had cut her long hair down to a far more manageable length. It looked good on her, but it also made her seem younger than she usually did.

It hurt Sam to see Buffy like this, so small and obviously upset enough that it disturbed her sleep. They were both like that, only Sam knew she had people to turn to if her nightmares came to be too much. Growing up in the home Buffy had, Sam had a feeling that Buffy usually suffered through her nightmares alone. Well, that was changing as of now.

"Buffy," Sam said softly, lightly touching Buffy's shortened hair, "come on Buffy, it's time to wake up now," softly stroking Buffy's hair, Sam felt the girl still, the signs that Buffy was waking up. Sam may not have been able to raise Buffy, but she still knew the girl well from what little time she had been able to spend with her. It had been one of the adoption terms; Sam refused to be shut out of her daughter's life even if she couldn't raise her on her own.

"Mom?" Buffy asked blearily, still tired from her rather unrestfull nap. Sam nodded, a worried expression on her face as she looked at her daughter.

"What's happened Buffy?" Sam asked, forgoing any of the obviously expected questions Buffy had been expecting. No 'what are you doing here' or 'what did you do this time'. Fresh tears started their way down Buffy's face and Sam discarded the question as she embraced her daughter.

"She kicked me out," Buffy cried into her mom's shoulder as she wrapped her arms around the other blonde, "I told her about being the Slayer after Spike offered to help me stop Angelus and she kicked me out." The rest of the story came out between burst of tears.

Sam frowned at what she was hearing. If she met this Xander anytime soon it wouldn't end well for the boy. Nor would it end well for the vampires involved, since nothing could stand up to a mother's rage. Joyce could obviously no longer care for Buffy, so now Sam could do what she had wanted to do two years ago. Nothing could stop her now, and nothing would stop them now that they were together again.


	2. Chapter 2

Not the Only One

Chapter Two

I DON"T OWN ANYTHING! (Well, I actually own a lot of things, but not them!)

ANNOUNCEMENTS: No, this will not be a BA pairing. I happen to hate it, so look for either a SB or FB pairing. If you like Dawn, she may or may not be in this as that is still in the 'maybe' zone of the spectrum. Riley is only going to be torn to pieces, so don't read this if you happen to actually like the guy. Also, there is a fair amount of Joyce bashing in this story, don't read if you like her. I have nothing against the woman, but sometimes she seemed a little to 'perfect mom' to me.

* * *

It had been a week since Sam had come home to find her daughter curled up on her couch. The first few days had been tense, Buffy scared that Sam would do the same thing Joyce had done. Sam did everything in her power and then some to prove Buffy wrong without going over the top.

Currently, Buffy was lying in her room. It was formerly the guest room, but between the two women they had managed to create a place that looked more lived in. A coat of paint or two, new sheets and few extra pillows were all that was needed. Buffy liked it, it looked more like a teenage girl's room than a ten year olds. Sam had even dug a trunk out of her attic for Buffy's weapons. It now sat at the foot of her bed.

Downstairs, Sam was talking on the phone with General Hammond. He had not expected her to be there, but had called so he could say that he had at least tried.

"Sir, I don't believe that my presence is necessary. If my dad wants to see me, he knows where I live." Sam listened as Hammond told her why the Tok'ra wanted her at the meeting. "Fine, but I can only come in for a few hours." This must have shocked the General, since it took him a few minuets to respond. They said their good-byes and hung up. Sam sighed, so much for her and Buffy's plans for the day.

Sam made her way upstairs and knocked on her daughter's door before opening it. Buffy sat up as her mom walked in.

"What is it mom?" Buffy knew the look Sam had on her face; it was the same look she got whenever she had to tell someone something that she wasn't sure how they would react to.

Sam sighed, "I just got called into work. I should only be a few hours, but I don't know how long it's going to take."

"And you can't tell me what for because it's classified," Buffy filled in. "its okay mom, I'll be fine."

Sam hugged her, "you know I'd tell you if I could." Buffy nodded, carefully hugging her mom back.

* * *

Sam paced in her lab, pissed that she had to stay far longer that just a few hours. While she knew that this wasn't helping any, she wanted to be a bit immature at the moment. It would help if Jack was here to annoy her, but at the moment she was the only member of SG-1 on base.

The Tok'ra, her father and Selmak being two of them, had brought some sort of laser type weapon they had found on a planet. They wanted to know what it did, but none of them could figure it out so they turned to the SCG resident genius. _Sometimes it sucks being the smart one_, Sam thought to herself. She glared at the device lying on the table. If you asked her, it looked like a light saber from Star Wars.

"Sam?" Daniel stuck his head into her lab. He and Teal'c had just returned from the movies and been told by one of the airmen that Major Carter was pacing in her lab like a trapped tiger.

Sam looked up, "oh, hey Daniel. What are you doing here?"

"I was dropping Teal'c off for the night; I thought you were on vacation somewhere in California?" He decided that it would be safer not to tell Sam what the airman had said.

"My plans were changed," Sam explained, "Then General Hammond called me in to look at something that the Tok'ra found." Sam moved so that Daniel could look at it.

"It looks like a light saber," Daniel said, unknowingly agreeing with Sam's first impression.

"That's what I thought, but it doesn't have any form of a power source, nor does it seem to have any missing pieces that could explain it."

"Maybe its nothing," Daniel mused, "just some tacky piece of decoration or something."

Sam shook her head, "According to my dad and Selmak, it was doing whatever it's supposed to do when they found it but once they took it to the Tok'ra base it stopped working."

"Where did they find it?" Daniel asked, curiosity piqued about the strange object.

"I don't know exactly, one of the Tok'ra worlds, I think." Sam was tired, and she really didn't care at the moment.

"Sam, maybe you should take a break," Daniel was worried, Sam usually didn't act like this. She usually never wanted to leave the base, always saying she had to much work to do.

"It won't work Daniel, I already tried that." Sam looked at her friend, "I'm going to go talk to my Dad about where he found this, maybe that'll help." Sam left her lab, walking toward the base guest quarters. Daniel watched her go. Something was going on with his friend, and he was going to find out.

* * *

Meanwhile in Sunnydale, sometimes referred to as Sunnyhell, Joyce Summers and Rupert Giles were pacing in their individual homes. Both were worried about the same girl, but neither knew where to start looking.

Giles looked at the note that Buffy had left him in his mailbox. It confused him greatly. Buffy had never struck him as incredibly smart, but a part of him had realized that that was the point. Buffy played the dumb blonde on purpose; it caused people to underestimate her. Her small stature already did that, but Giles had seen flashes that caused him to doubt the 'dumb blonde' routine. He suddenly realized that it was those flashes that caused him to be annoyed when Buffy massacred a demon name or word in general.

The man sighed. He had to find Buffy, for several reasons. She had a destiny to fulfill, a Hellmouth to protect, countless other responsibilities that she needed to take care of, but above all, he needed to find her because she was more than just his Slayer. Buffy, along with the other Scoobies, had, in some way or another, become his family over the last two years.

He looked back at the note. _I'll be fine Watcher Mine, I'm going home._ This was the line that confused him. Buffy's home was here, wasn't it?

* * *

Willow looked over the park, watching the other people walk around and do normal park activities. Xander, Oz, and Cordelia were supposed to meet her here in an hour, but right now she was just thinking. When Buffy had left, she hadn't left a note with anyone but Giles, not even her own mother got one. Buffy had been gone for nearly two weeks now and so far there was no sign of her. Willow wasn't sure how she felt about Buffy being gone. Part of her was angry, part of her worried, and the last part was sad that Buffy didn't trust her enough to come to her. Xander had reassured Willow that he had told Buffy about the spell, but that was the last time he had seen their blonde friend.

"Hey Willow," Oz said in his low monotone, sitting beside his girlfriend. She rewarded him with one of her grins, but it wasn't as bright of cheery as it should have been. He was mad at Buffy for that, but he knew that she would come back. Buffy just needed time to accept the events that had happened.

"So what's going on Wills?" Xander asked his best friend, arm around Cordy's shoulders.

"Nothing, just thinking about Buffy. Where do you think she is?" Willow looked at the couple as she nestled into Oz's embrace.

Cordy snorted, "Wherever Buffy is, I'm sure she's perfectly safe and when she's ready she'll come back." Cordelia was tempted to roll her eyes at Willow and Xander, who seemed to doubt Buffy. The future Seer fully believed that Buffy would come back, she had to much here to just leave it all.

Xander grinned, "I'm sure your right Cordy. Buffy will be back before we know it."

* * *

Jack O'Neil prided himself on being observant, even if he acted like he wasn't sometimes. The fact that Sam's motorcycle was still in the driveway told him that his 2iC was not in California. With her car not being there, he assumed that she was back at the base.

He knew very well that he was supposed to be at his cabin, but it had gotten lonely up there with just him and the fish that supposedly lived in his lake. So he had come back here on the off chance that Sam was still here. He figured that he could get the team together for some off base bonding time, maybe even with Janet and Cassie.

Approaching the front door, he missed the shadow that went across the window. He was only going to slip the invite, in case he missed her at the base, into the screen door where Sam would see it. He was surprised when the door opened with a short, petite blonde girl on the other side.

"Who are you and what are you doin' in Carter's house?" He demanded, not realizing that Carter had a friend over.

Buffy looked at the silver-haired man standing on the front porch. She recognized him from the pictures in the living room. She wasn't surprised when he didn't know who she was; her mom very rarely mixed her work with her 'normal' life.

"Buffy Carter," the girl told him, Jack raising an eyebrow at her. "I'm sorry Colonel O'Neil, but mom isn't home right now." To saw Jack was surprised was a bit of an understatement. He was down right shocked. Since when did Sam have a kid?

"Prove it," he challenged her, "or I'm calling the cops to arrest you for trespassing, breaking and entering, and stealing." He glared at her, but to his disbelief she wasn't even fazed. She just looked at him.

"Okay, come inside," Buffy walked away from the door and went upstairs.

Jack moved to follow her, but didn't have to. The girl had already reappeared with a large book that he recognized as a photo album in her hands. He followed her into the living room where she sat down in one of the chairs and handed the album to him. Jack took it carefully in case it was a trap.

Buffy watched as the man her mom loved but figured she could never have as he sat down ad stared at what was in the album she had handed him. It was the album that had everything of importance in it. Her birth certificate (it said clearly that her last name was indeed Carter, Joyce had changed it to Summers), pictures, awards for skating, and various other little bits and pieces that Sam had from the times they had spent together while Buffy was growing up. Sitting up slightly, Buffy grinned as she heard a car enter the driveway. Mom was home.

* * *

Sam yawned, looking at her watch. She had gone in at roughly seven that morning and now it was almost eight. Buffy was probably waiting for her or her call at least before she went out. One major difference Sam noted was that Buffy didn't have to sneak in or out of her, no _their_, home. Looking around briefly, as she usually did anyway, she noticed a familiar truck on the opposite side of the street. It took her exhausted mind a minute to remember who the truck belonged to. Once she did, she swore. This was not how she imagined Jack meeting Buffy.

"Isn't that O'Neil's truck Sammy?" Jacob Cater asked his only daughter, suspicion entering his eyes. She didn't answer him, only took off to the front door of her house and went inside. Jacob went at a slower pace, wondering what on Earth was going on.

Skidding to a stop, she looked into her living room. Buffy waved at her from her favorite chair, grinning like crazy. The grin fell when she spotted the person behind Sam. Something was off about her grandfather, and it made her Slayer senses go haywire.

"Sir?" Sam questioned, unsure of why her CO was just sitting there just staring at something in his lap. She through a questioning look at Buffy and spotted her daughter's face. If anything, it looked like Buffy was scared. Sam could have hit herself. She hadn't even thought of Buffy's Slayer senses when her Dad had decided to come and stay with her for the few days he would be on Earth.

"What is she doing here Sam?" Jacob looked at Buffy with veiled dislike. Buffy only looked back at him with confusion written all over her face.

Jack started at Jacob's question, standing up and turning around to face Sam and her father. Sam meanwhile had turned to face her father.

"Buffy is living here, that's what she's doing Dad," Sam told Jacob with a glare. "Is that a problem for you?" She had hoped he had gotten over the problems he had with his oldest grandchild. It seemed he hadn't.

"She is supposed to be with your cousin, the woman who raised her. Not here messing up your life!" Jacob ignored the warning Selmak was giving him, knowing that with Buffy there she couldn't take over anyway.

"She isn't messing up my life!" Sam raised her voice just like her father was doing.

Jack took a step back. It wasn't often that Sam got angry enough to yell, but when she did one needed to stay clear of her. He shot a glance over to Buffy, who, now that Cater was nearby, he could now see resembled his 2iC much like Charlie had resembled him. Same blonde hair, same expressive face and eyes, same build even through Buffy was shorter than Sam by at least a foot and a half. He noticed as her face fell at the argument going on between her two family members.

"I knew it was a mistake," Buffy whispered, tears in her eyes and trailing down her face. With inhuman speed, not caring that there were two people that were completely out of the loop concerning her secret, she streaked past the arguing duo and up the stairs where they all heard the door slam shut.

Sam whirled around, as if to make sure that Buffy had just done what she had. Knowing that she only had a few seconds to stop her daughter from running, she, while no where near as fast as Buffy had, ran up the stairs and into the room with the busted door. She didn't care if Jacob and Jack followed, Buffy was what mattered currently.

"Buffy," Sam said softly, sliding open the closet door. Buffy was curled there crying. One of the duffle bags was on the floor beside her half filled with clothing. A couple of broken hangers where littered around the tiny blonde. Sam kneeled down carefully, not wanting any splinters in her knee caps. "What are you doing?"

"Leaving, I shouldn't have come here. It was a mistake." Buffy was still crying.

"No," Sam wrapped her arms around her, "you're not leaving and you coming here was not a mistake. I like having you here," she pulled her arms tighter, not knowing what else to say to convince Buffy that she was wanted here.

Jack stood a few feet away, feeling slightly out of place. Looking around the room, he realized that it used to be Sam's guest room. It looked good as Buffy's bedroom. "She's right kid," he said, trying to help Sam (and maybe earn a few brownie points). "I've never seen Carter this happy, and if being here does it then I say you should stay."

Sam smiled at Jack, silently thanking him for his help. Buffy had stopped crying, realizing that the man who upon meeting her had threaten to have her arrested had done a complete 180 in how he saw her in a span of a few minutes. Buffy grinned to herself, no wonder her mom had fallen for him. Not only was he handsome, but he was caring as well. She believed him. She had absolutely no idea why, but she did.


	3. Chapter 3

Not the Only One

Chapter Three

I DO NOT OWN! If I owned Buffy _or_ SG-1, would I really be writing this? Also, due to both my own preference and the many reviews voting for it, the pairing is B/F. Riley is still going to be here, so anyone who wants to see him get beaten up (and maybe killed at a later date) please feel free to review with ideas.

* * *

"Do you think a spell would work in locating Buffy?" Willow lodged in one Giles's chairs at his home. The other Scoobies sat around the living room, wondering where their missing blonde was.

Giles sighed, shaking his head. "No, I'm afraid not." He took off his glasses and began to clean them vigorously. "Where ever Buffy has hidden herself, she can't be located by magic."

Cordelia snorted, annoyed with the constant worrying that the others were doing. So far, only Oz hadn't actively done anything but comfort Willow. "I know I've said it before, but must I say it again?" She glared at them in her annoyance, "Buffy will return or at least contact us once she's ready."

"But she's been gone for nearly three weeks already!" Willow whined, "Don't you think she would have done so by now?"

Cordelia shook her head, "If you had had to kill Oz in order to save everyone else, would you be able to face everyone else after such a short time?" The future seer snorted, "Besides, it's not like she has somewhere to go if she did come back." Everyone suddenly looked up at her in shock.

"What do you mean Cordy?" asked Xander, looking at his girlfriend.

"You mean none of you know?" Cordelia was shocked; she was the last one she would have thought Buffy would have told without telling anyone else. The others shook their heads. "Snider kicked her out of school while Joyce kicked her out of the house that night before she killed Angel. She didn't tell that to any of you in the notes she left?"

"She only left Giles a note," Oz reminded her in his normal monotone at the same time Willow burst out 'she left you a note?!'

Cordelia shrugged, "I thought she left us all a note."

* * *

It had been almost a week since Jacob and Selmak along with Jack had met Buffy. Sam had told her father that he either accepted that Buffy was staying there, or he could go stay on base. Jack and Buffy had stayed upstairs while Sam did this, although with they way they were yelling, Buffy (and Jack to some extent) managed to hear what was said. In the end, Jacob settled for staring at Buffy in loathing while Buffy stayed as far away from him as possible. She didn't know what it was, but something was off about her grandfather.

Jack was finding it all extremely odd. Buffy was strange, slightly jumpy and always moving in a way that reminded him of a large jungle cat. He was still sure that he had seen her move with super human speed that first day, but as she hadn't done it again he couldn't be sure. He did realize that Jacob Carter had taken to either glaring at Buffy or ignoring her entirely. He had also never seen Sam so cold towards her father.

Sam meanwhile was worried on how Buffy was reacting to Selmak. She wondered if it would be worse when she met Teal'c. In order to try to ease this off of her mind, she fulfilled her promise to Buffy to teach her how to drive her motorcycle. It was this activity that calmed them all down the most.

"Hey Sam," Jack waved to his 2IC as he exited his truck. He was carrying several bags of food and a six-pack of beer for the cookout that Sam had planned in order to introduce Buffy to the others.

"Hello Sir," Sam replied, not looking up from where she and Buffy were tinkering with the seldom used grill. Jack grinned as he caught sight of the normally pristine appearance of his 2IC daughter. Grease and ash streaked her face and growing hair, along with the pink shirt she was wearing and the jeans that looked as if they had seen better days.

"Having any luck?" He had reached the back porch were they were working. Buffy looked up and grinned at him.

"Luck had nothing to do with it," she told him, handing her mother another screw. She would have done it, but the only time she had done it, she had underestimated her strength and they had had to replace the screw.

"There, it's ready for you Sir," Sam stood, wiping her hands on her jeans that matched Buffy's.

Jack nodded, turning to the bags of charcoal sitting next to the toolbox. "When are the others getting here?" he asked as Buffy disappeared inside.

"Janet had to pick up Cassie from a friends house and Daniel is bringing Murray, so they should be here in about thirty minutes or so." Jack nodded as he stood back and tossed a match, the tiny flame quickly igniting the lighter fluid and heating the coals.

* * *

Inside, Buffy looked out her window and grinned at the interaction between her mom and her mom's CO. It wasn't their words that made her grin; it was the physical actions that went along with them. She knew that her mom wasn't as strict a rule follower as most would assume. Besides, Jack managing to keep one arm firmly wrapped around her mom while lighting the grill with the other was sort of impressing. Not to mention the fact that they dared to do it while Jacob was in the house, taking a very big risk.

Grimacing at the state of her clothing and hair, the Californian turned away from her window and its view in order to clean up before the rest of her mom's coworkers arrived. While doing this, she cast her mind back to Sunnydale and wondered how things were going on there. Was Giles still there? Were the others okay? Had a new Slayer arrived yet to replace her? Did anyone actually miss her? Had Giles and Cordy gotten the notes that she left with them? Sensing the dark emotions that were beginning to fill her head with doubts, Buffy pushed the thoughts away.

* * *

"So Sam, where's this mysterious daughter of yours?" Janet asked, helping Sam place the various dishes that the others had brought out on the table Jack had set up in the yard.

"She's around here somewhere, probably avoiding Dad," Sam sent a glare at her father, who was thankfully leaving the very next day.

"Why would she be avoiding her own grandfather?" Cassie popped up from under the table, the eleven year old excited not to be the only kid in the group anymore. Of course, seventeen was no longer a kid, but it was still a nice thought.

Before Sam could answer, a wolf whistle brought their attention over to Jack, who was grinning at the short blonde who had just exited the house. Sam shook her head, Buffy was dressed in a short jean shorts and blue spaghetti-strap top, something that proved that you could take the girl out of California but you couldn't take the California out of the girl.

"Wow," Cassie said in surprise, "Mom, can I dress like that when I turn seventeen?" Cassie didn't pay attention to her mom's look of shocked denial or Sam's stifled laughter at the look on her friend's face.

Buffy walked over to where her mom was, pointedly ignoring Jack and his antics. "Hey mom, is there anything left that I can help with?" Buffy smiled at the young girl who was clearly impressed with what she was wearing.

"Yes Buffy, can you go and get the sodas set up in the cooler with Cassie?" Buffy nodded as the girl tagged along with her, barraging her with questions on what it was like living in California.

"So that was the mysterious Carter," Daniel spoke up from behind Janet, studying Buffy as she walked inside the house, now avidly chatting with Cassie.

Sam smiled, "Yep," Jack came up to stand behind Sam, careful not to do anything that would tip the others off to their actual relationship.

"She's pretty impressive," Jack told them as Teal'c joined them, "she's not half as girly as she looks." He skillfully dodged the elbow that Sam aimed at him.

* * *

Jacob stood with Hammond, watching how Buffy interacted with the others. She didn't seem even half as afraid or untrusting of Teal'c as she was of him and Selmak. Hammond noticed his look and asked him what it was about Buffy that bothered him so much. She seemed like a perfectly respectful teenager, if a little flightily and unsure of herself. Also, her habit of checking out her surroundings like a trained soldier was unsettling.

"Its more what she represents that bothers me," Jacob told his oldest friend, "she's not even supposed to know Sam, yet Sam wouldn't hear about not being apart of _her_ daughter's life." It was obvious to Hammond that there was more to it than that, but it was enough to start with at least.

"Is that why Major Carter has been so cold towards you?" Hammond wasn't blind, he had noticed how one of his favorite officers acted towards her father. Of course, he had also noticed several other things, but was more than happy to ignore them until he thought he would need to intervene.

Jacob nodded, but didn't say anything. Hammond only nodded, leaving his friend to stew in his own decision. He would have to fix it, that or cut himself off from Sam because anyone who knew her would realize that she wasn't going to give on this one.

* * *

"Mom?" Buffy leaned against the doorframe that led into her mom's bedroom. The cookout had been a success, and Buffy had fully enjoyed meeting the people who her mom worked with on a daily basis.

"Yea Buffy?" Sam looked over to where Buffy was standing. Her daughter seemed nervous about something and Sam had a sinking feeling she knew what it was.

"Mom, what's inside Jacob and your friend Murray?" Buffy fidgeted, "What ever it is, it's driving my Slayer senses crazy."

Sam looked down; she knew that this would happen. Not to this extent, but she had figured that Buffy would at least sense the snakes, to borrow Jack's term, inside those who carried them.

"It's one of those classified things, isn't it?" Buffy asked, trying to find a way to get her mom off the hook of having to answer her.

"Yes, and I wish I could tell you,"

"But it would mean being court marshaled if it was ever found out. Just like with you and Jack." Buffy nodded slowly, "I understand mom," Sam stood up and walked over to her daughter.

"You know I would tell you if I could," Sam whispered into her ear, knowing that this was putting a wrench into their relationship.

"It's no big deal mom," Buffy told her, "I was sort of worried that you didn't know and that it was a demon." Sam nodded, hugging Buffy tighter. She knew what Buffy's greatest fear was, and it paralleled hers.

"Okay, so now that we have that settled," Sam let Buffy go, "is there something else you wanted to talk about?"

Buffy nodded, "I wanted to know if it would be okay if I called Giles."

"Of course you can," Sam nodded, "I'm sure he's worried about you with what you've told me about him. I'm sure your other friends are worried for you as well, and would like to know that you're okay."

"I know, but it's just so hard to talk to them!" Buffy felt her tears come to her eyes, "What if they blame me for everything that Angelus did?"

"If they do, than they aren't really your friends." Sam told her, "you didn't know what would happen, and they can't blame you for something like that." Buffy nodded silently, hugging her mom one last time before wishing her a goodnight and leaving her room. Sam sighed as she watched her daughter leave. What had happened in Buffy's life that she wasn't being told? What had happened to make her lose her confidence? It couldn't have just been what had driven her to run here. There had to be more to it…

* * *

Giles started when the phone beside his bed rang. He looked at the clock, noticing that it was only three in the morning. Who would be calling this early?

"Hello?" He lay back down, not expecting to hear the voice that was on the line.

"Giles? Oh gods, its to early to call from here, isn't it? I'm so sorry, I'll call back later," Buffy winched, not believing that she had forgotten the time difference.

"No, don't hang up Buffy. Where are you? Are you alright? Are you safe?"

Buffy grinned as what she dubbed 'father-mode' came out in her watcher. "I'm fine Giles; I'm at home and perfectly safe. No, I'm not back in Sunnydale. I'm not sure if I'll ever go back there."

"Buffy," Giles said sadly, "what happened? Why did you run away?" He could hear Buffy crying softly, not loud enough to wake anyone in the near vicinity of her, but her could hear it.

"Xander lied, Giles he never told me you and Willow were going to try to replace his soul. I sent Angel, not Angelus, to Hell Giles. How could I do that to someone I was supposed to love?"

Giles heart ached. He hadn't known. He would speak to Xander in the morning, but right now Buffy was the important one. Now if he only knew what to say. "I don't know what to tell you Buffy. There are hundreds of things I could tell you, but none of them are more than cold reasoning." Giles took a deep breath, "Cordlia told us about your mother kicking you out. If you needed a place to stay Buffy, all you had to do was ask."

"I know Giles, but my mom didn't kick me out, at least, not my birth mom." Buffy took a shallow breath, waiting for Giles to respond.

"What do you mean Buffy?"

"Joyce Summers is not my real mother, she's a cousin of my mom's who adopted me because mom couldn't take care of me at the time."

"So then, when you say home,"

"I mean I with my mom." Buffy sighed, relived that Giles didn't hate her.


	4. Chapter 4

Not the Only One

Chapter 4

I OWN NOTHING!

* * *

Giles paced in his small kitchen, anger simmering just under the surface as he thought about what Xander and Joyce had done. Now that he had spoken to Buffy, he understood why she ran away. He was worried when she wouldn't answer his question on if she was going to come back. He greatly feared that the answer would be no. The ringing of his phone broke into his thoughts.

"Hello?" He answered gruffly, not liking that his thinking had been interrupted.

"Giles? Is that you or a bear?" A feminine voice floated over the phone, a voice he hadn't heard in quite a few years.

"Miya, is that you?" Giles's voice lost its gruffness.

"Yes it is; what has you in a Ripper mood?" Miya asked him, knowing what it took for the older man to reach such a mood.

Giles sighed and told his friend what had been happening since the last time they saw each other. He heard her growl, and smiled at her offer of help. "No, I don't think that's necessary. I believe Buffy would like for him to live and still be in one piece."

"Your slayer has more mercy than I do," Miya told him. She continued on with why she had called. Giles nodded, even though she couldn't see him. After a few more minutes the old friends parted, Giles feeling much more in control then he had been.

Later that day Giles told Xander that he knew, along with presenting what Buffy had told him. Willow looked betrayed when she looked at Xander. Cordelia snorted, glaring at Xander. She had known, but had refrained from saying anything. She could understand, some what, the reason Xander did it. She just didn't like that he could lie so easily.

Xander, for his part, looked guilty. He felt guilty, more for lying to Buffy than the lie itself. All them were glad to hear that Buffy had at least called. Willow was jealous that Giles had been the one to be called, but was smart enough to figure that Giles would be the one that Buffy trusted to not come running after her.

Giles didn't tell them that Buffy was with her Mom. That was Buffy's secret to tell.

* * *

Buffy woke up screaming. Sam, followed by Jack who had been downstairs to take Jacob back to the base, ran into her room.

"Buffy, what is it?" Sam gently ran her hand through Buffy's hair, which had grown to reach her shoulders already.

Buffy glanced at Jack, "It was a Slayer Dream, Mom, what's a snake head?"

Jack looked as if someone had just sucker punched him. Sam looked at him, torn. Buffy wasn't supposed to find out about what Sam did, and Buffy's secret wasn't supposed to crossover into what Sam did.

"I'll call Hammond," Jack told the two blondes, "Find out what her dream was about." Jack had been filled in about Buffy by pure accident. He had caught her fighting a trio of vampires outside of the restaurant they had been in. Sam refused to lie to both the man she was dating and her CO. Buffy had only agreed, knowing Jack wasn't going to think she was crazy.

"Yes Sir," Sam's brief glance behind him told Jack why she hadn't used his name instead.

Jacob watched the blonde teenager who was shaking, covered in sweat and clearly afraid of him. Selmak disagreed, sensing something off about the girl ever since that first meeting a week ago.

Buffy watched Sam's dad as well. He had one of those snakes in his head, and now that she knew what she was sensing she could identify it. Sam saw where Buffy's attention was and asked Jacob to leave. He protested, but Selmak took over and assured Sam and Buffy both that she would keep Jacob away.

Once Jacob was gone, Buffy filled Sam in on what had been in her dream. Sam, not willing to lie to her daughter anymore than she was to Jack, filled in names for what Buffy described. Jack came back upstairs, already having filled in Hammond. They were to take Buffy to the SGC. Hammond wanted to speak to her personally.


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

Not the Only One

Chapter 5

**I own nothin' but the plot!**

Thanks for all the reviews! I'm sorry that it's taken so long for me to update, but between moving, school, and illness I haven't had time to work on this. Also, writer's block happens to suck. ENJOY!

* * *

Jack sighed, running a hand through his hair. It had been several hours since Buffy had woken up screaming and they were just now finishing up. Some how, it hadn't hit him just how unbelievable it was that vampires and other demons existed. Now it did, with having to tell Hammond, Jacob, Selmak, Daniel, and Teal'c about 'myths' the 'did not exist'. If Jack hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't believe it either.

**FLASHBACK**

_It was dark out, the streetlights giving off a pale glow in the parking lot in front of the local Dairy Queen. Jack had picked up both of his blondes and together they had gone first to the movies and then dinner followed now by ice cream._

_Buffy had been acting edgy since they had left to go to Jack's truck. Since Sam didn't seem worried, Jack had ignored it for the most part. Until Buffy had slipped away into the shadows, that was when he and Sam had heard sounds of fighting. Both rushed to see what was happening. They arrived just in time to see Buffy stake one of the three vampires before twirling around and lashing out with a snap kick and sending another flying. _

_The last two vampires tried to joint attacking, but Buffy was undaunted. Quickly, she had those two staked and the fourth chose to run rather than fight._

"_What The hell was that?"_

**END**

_What the hell was right_. Jack thought to himself. He had relayed the story in support of Buffy and Sam had shared her own experiences with vampires. Buffy explained just about everything, although he knew Sam knew more than what Buffy had told the rest of them. Of course, what Buffy hadn't said was more than likely personal. Jack understood not wanting to share those things. Everyone had the right to some secrets.

What had surprised Jack and Sam was that Teal'c and Selmak had heard of the Slayer. Although they had believed it to be a myth, until Buffy lifted Hammond's desk up one handed with out help and with everything still on it. After that, Sam was given permission to fill Buffy in on exactly what Stargate Command was.

Buffy understood what they told her. She also understood that General Hammond had run a background check on her. Of course, once the murder and the burning of her former high school's gym were explained, her record was otherwise good. She agreed to sign the nondisclosure forms. That was what she was doing now. Jack sighed, wondering just when his life went strange.

* * *

"Are you sure you want to do this?" It was late; Jack followed both blondes back to their home. He watched as Sam stuffed clothes into her duffle bag.

She stopped and turned to face the man in her doorway. "I'm sure."

Jack entered the room and stilled her hands. Bringing her attention to him, he kissed her softly, both knowing that they were using borrowed time while they did so.

"You will come back, right? Or will I have to come after you?" He was partially joking, but he was also serious.

"Yes Jack, I am coming back." Sam assured him. "I'm going with Buffy to meet her Watcher and her friends." She was also planning on making sure that the principle allowed her daughter to return to finish out her schooling. Of course, she wasn't going to tell him exactly what she was going to do, but that wasn't important.

"Good," he kissed her again. Turning, he began to help her pack as well. At least this way he could speed things up.

* * *

Buffy silently left her mom and Jack to what they were doing. They hadn't even noticed that she had been watching them. She smiled sadly. They obviously loved each other a lot and wanted to be together. She wondered if she would ever meet someone she could love like that?

Angel was out, for obvious reasons. Even if he came back, they would never be happy together. Buffy reviewed the various men she had known and dated. Several had been jocks. Pike had gotten over enthusiastic and gotten himself killed while trying to help her. Xander, he had had a crush on her for a while but he was just too much of a brother to her for him to be anything else. Giles was a father figure, and it would be far too weird. Oz wasn't her type, nor was Willow. Cordelia reminded her to much of herself before she learned that she was the Slayer.

Briefly, the dark haired girl from her dream flashed across her mind. Buffy shook her head. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about this. Hurriedly, she busied her hands with packing her things. Sam was driving them back to Sunnydale. Buffy didn't want to keep her waiting.

* * *

Giles yawned, looking at the clock as he passed it. It was a little after six in the morning. Briefly, he wondered why he kept getting wake up calls at such weird hours. Shaking the thought from his head, he slid his glasses on and went to answer the door.

A girl with curly brunette hair, dressed in leather pants and a short red top, stood there with a duffle slung across her shoulders and another at her feet.

"Um, who are you?" He blinked at her. He was certain that he didn't know her yet she seemed familiar.

"Uh, is this Rupert Giles's place?" Her accent wasn't Californian, it was Bostonian. Like Miya's was, when she wasn't trying to hid it.

"Yes, can I help you?" His tired mind was trying to tell him something, but he wasn't awake enough just yet to listen.

"My Aunt Miya Becket gave me your address," the girl explained. "Look, I can go somewhere else, you don't have to put me up or anything. I'm used to fending for myself anyway," she babbled.

It clicked in Giles's head then. This was Faith, the new Slayer and his friend's niece. He stood aside.

"No, come in. I'm not awake yet. How is Miya?" He let the girl in.

"She's good," Faith told him, looking around the place. "She told me to tell you hello," Faith set both of her bags down on the couch before flinging herself there as well. "So what's for breakfast?"

* * *

Buffy stretched, looking around as she did so. She and Sam had arrived late the night before in Sunnydale, a little over four days since they had left Colorado Springs. Currently, they were sharing a motel room in the only motel in Sunnydale. It wasn't a pleasant place.

Sam came in, carrying cups of coffee and a bag that when opened revealed to be muffins.

"So what do you want to do?" Sam asked, watching Buffy.

"I'm not sure," Buffy replied honestly. "We should probably go and see Giles first."

"Giles it is then."


	6. URGENT

Make sure to copy and paste the petition below to make it your own story... We need this petition going around through everyone who is an active member on FF.

The administrators are, as of June 4th, going to be taking down Fics that have lemons or have extreme violence. Now I don't know about you but I think that's stupid. There are many wonderful fics that only have one or two lemons in them yet the plot itself is awesome! You can't just take down a 100,000+ word fic just because it has a lemon in a chapter that is only 1000 words long. Now I urge you all to read the petition below, sign it, and repost this to your own fics. Hopefully if we make enough noise everything will return to normal. Thank you.

Greetings to the fine folk that moderate our site.

Myself, along with many others, have been writing and posting on your fine site for years now, some of the better examples of up and coming writers out there are now suddenly finding some of the stories we've come to love at risk of being removed without the chance to even rectify our errors.

For some, that means the permanent loss of a story. While I don't have anything that I believe violates your terms of use, there are those out there that are never able to recover a story in its original form, this is something I find to be almost worthy of a legal action, as while we cannot claim ownership of a character, the stories are OURS and simply destroying them is something that is inexcusable.

It's quite easy to simply add an MA rating, additional filters or even a simple requirement for a free membership to read the stories presented here, and would cut down on hateful anonymous reviews and posts at the same time, so I have to question as to why such a thing, in all this time, simply hasn't been added.

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